Coons reacts to Chavez's death on WDEL

Senator Chris Coons reacts to the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez earlier today.

Coons, who chairs the African Affairs subcommittee of the U.S. Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations, tells WDEL's Allan Loudell that he hopes the Venezuelan people will have a peaceful transition to a new government.

"It's frankly my hope that they'll reconsider some of the more extreme conditions that the Chavez government has taken, now that he has unfortunately passed," Coons says.

"Hugo Chavez has been someone who, although seen by his own people as a champion of social justice, has around the region really been a thorn in the side of the United States and our allies and someone who's been quite difficult for us to work with in terms of in terms of bringing reconciliation regionally and advancing our values agenda," Coons says.